The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Morris on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on the consultation on the UK’s first space port; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Robert Goodwill
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer of 8 March, UIN 28858 (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=28858).
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-04-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in the light of the report by Help Refugees in March that 129 unaccompanied children are unaccounted for in the Calais refugee camp.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government is working closely with the French Government to ensure that unaccompanied children in Calais and Dunkirk quickly receive the support and protection they need.
The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015 committed the two governments to establishing a permanent official contact group focused on ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively, including the provisions on family unity.
As a result a Home Office official has recently been seconded to the Interior Ministry’s Dublin Unit in Paris in part to assist with the identification of potential requests for the UK to take charge of asylum seeking children in France and to bring them into the Dublin Regulation procedure without delay.
In order to receive the proper support they need and to be eligible under Dublin, children must first make an asylum for application in France.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will conduct an investigation into historical cases of birth defects caused by sodium valproate and the support now required by the families affected.
George Freeman
Valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy and bipolar disorder but should only be used in girls and women of childbearing potential if other treatments are ineffective or not tolerated. For some women there may be no other treatment option. Since it was authorised, valproate was known to have risks in pregnancy. Because of ongoing concerns about women’s awareness of the risks, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has worked with professional bodies, voluntary organisations and patient groups to develop a set of materials to aid communication between health professionals and women and girls.
The valproate toolkit comprises booklets for healthcare professionals, a reminder card and a guide for women, a checklist for prescribers and clear package labelling carrying a prominent warning about use in pregnancy. It was widely disseminated on 8 February 2016 through a Central Alerting System (a web based cascade system for issuing alerts to the National Health Service) and the MHRA’s Drug Safety Update bulletin. Electronic copies of the toolkit are hosted on several websites including the Electronic Medicines Compendium. Letters and hard copies of the toolkit were sent by the marketing authorisation holder directly to general practitioners (GPs), pharmacists and relevant specialists. This included 400,000 patient cards, 81,000 patient guides and 22,000 healthcare professional booklets.
In order to monitor the effectiveness of the valproate toolkit, the MHRA has sought feedback from all stakeholders and will continue to work with the Royal Colleges, professional bodies including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, patient groups and relevant charities to increase awareness of the toolkit among GPs, pharmacists and patients.This work will include exploring how clinical commissioning groups can help ensure the toolkit materials are being used.
So far, the MHRA has worked with voluntary organisations and patient groups to produce online patient surveys to measure awareness of the risks among patients. Furthermore, MHRA is conducting a study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to track changes in prescribing of valproate to women and girls following the communications to healthcare professionals and patients on the risks of valproate in pregnancy. The marketing authorisation holder is conducting Europe-wide studies to measure the changes in patterns of prescribing and awareness of the healthcare professionals of the risks. The available data will be brought together in a regularly updated dashboard that will be used to track the impact of the communications on patient and professional awareness over time.
The Government has great sympathy for those families who have been affected by the use of valproate in pregnancy. There is support available for families with children born with a disability. For many people this will involve an early intervention programme from health visitors and midwives, to help a child develop, as well as provide support to the family. This might include: speech and language therapy – to help with any problems communicating or feeding; physiotherapy – to help with any muscle weakness or movement difficulties, and individual home teaching programmes.
Where a child has a special educational need the local authority must make support available to ensure the child had access to the same educational opportunities as a child without such a need. The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a new statutory framework for local authorities and to work together to secure services for children and young people – up to the age of 25 – who have special educational needs or disability, across education, health and social care.
The MHRA’s current priority is to work to ensure that women taking valproate are fully aware of the risks in pregnancy. Once this is achieved we will look into the history of the episode and see what lessons have been or could be usefully learnt by examining events.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison Thewliss on 2016-06-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training her Department provides to immigration officers on handling asylum cases in which a claimant has been raped or sexually abused.
James Brokenshire
The Home Office is committed to treating all those who seek asylum with dignity and respect, including those whose fears may be based on sexual violence or gender related persecution.
All general Immigration Officers receive training in Modern Slavery issues and those based at dedicated Asylum Intake Unit where claims may be first registered also receive training in sexual violence awareness. However, all asylum claims are dealt with by specially trained caseworkers rather than Immigration Officers.
The current training and support available for asylum caseworkers includes a UNHCR endorsed Foundation Training Programme, which covers all aspects of the asylum interview and decision making process, including dealing sensitively with vulnerable claimants.
Furthermore we have also worked closely with stakeholders, such as, the Refugee Council, to develop a dedicated referral process, so that women are formally referred to special counselling services where they disclose issues relating to sexual violence as part of their asylum claim.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bruce of Bennachie on 2016-09-14.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific support they provide to deaf children in developing countries.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
People with disabilities are the largest minority group globally. An estimated one billion people have a disability globally, 80% of whom live in developing countries. People with disabilities are often the poorest in their community and many face considerable levels of stigma, discrimination and persecution.
DFID follows a ‘twin-track’ approach to disability inclusion. This means we aim to attach priority to disability in all our policies and programmes as well as supporting disability-targeted programmes.
Over the last two years, DFID has strengthened our capacity to work on disability inclusion, including by appointing a director-level champion, employing three full-time staff to work solely on disability, and developing a group of Internal Disability Expert Advisers from across our organisation.
DFID’s efforts to date have included:
For example, two projects in the UK’s flagship Girls Education Challenge are exclusively focused on addressing the issue that girls with disabilities are less likely to access education. Specific interventions include provision of assistive devices and scholastic materials for girls with hearing impairments and improvement of teacher skills to enable them to communicate in sign language, which has encouraged parents to enrol their children in schools.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2016-01-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to bring into force the provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015 to allow for special permits to be issued for on-road racing; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
Government will implement as soon as possible subject to the priorities set out in the British Road Safety Statement.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when his Department plans to answer Questions 25349, 25350, 25505, 25506, 25604, tabled on 2 February 2016 and Question 24982, tabled on 1 February 2016.
Joseph Johnson
I have replied to the hon Member.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to include private sector companies that deliver public services.
Matthew Hancock
I refer the hon Member to my Written Ministerial Statement of 1 March 2016 [Hansard reference HCWS566]
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-12.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether, in the event of the takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Börse, LCH and Eurex will have a regulator in common, and if so, whether that regulator will be the Financial Conduct Authority.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
I refer the noble Lord to the investor relations section of the London Stock Exchange Group website, which contains information about the proposed merger, including some information on the combined group’s proposed structure. I also refer the noble Lord to my previous written answer HL7153.
Once formally notified of the proposed merger, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (as supervisors of the London Stock Exchange Group’s UK-authorised subsidiaries) must assess the proposal from a regulatory standpoint.
In addition the proposed merger must be approved by competition authorities and is subject to a range of other assessments including those of overseas regulators and shareholders.
European Regulation No 648/2012 (EMIR) sets out detailed standards on the quality of collateral that a central counterparty (CCP) can accept, and includes a general requirement that the CCP can demonstrate to its supervisor that the form of collateral in question does not present unmanageable risk to the CCP. Furthermore, CCPs are permitted under EMIR to invest their collateral “only in cash or in highly liquid financial instruments with minimal market and credit risk.”
Any proposals for inter-CCP links would need to be assessed against relevant parts of EMIR by the Bank of England, as supervisor of LCH. EMIR requires that models used to set CCP margin requirements (and any changes to them) are validated by the CCP’s supervisor. EMIR also requires that a CCP wishing to extend its business to additional products or services must obtain the authorisation of its supervisor.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Edward Argar on 2016-05-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what criteria her Department uses to determine the award of contracts for projects overseas.
Mr Desmond Swayne
To determine the award of contracts, tenders are assessed against pre-defined and published evaluation criteria by an evaluation panel with relevant expertise. This assessment follows the EU Public Procurement principle of selecting the ‘most economically advantageous tender’. The evaluation has two main sections – technical evaluation and commercial evaluation.